EDITORIAL: Annual Review: PROGRESS Opinion Section

Opinion, and the expression of it, has been alive and well in Moapa Valley. The PROGRESS opinion page has been bustling with activity throughout 2014 as local residents have weighed in on all sorts of topics of interest to their community. We are pleased that our Opinion page can offer a forum for this type of community discussion. Indeed, we believe that this role of community forum is one of the most important functions that can be played by a community newspaper.

To begin with, there have been plenty of local, regional and national issues upon which our editorial staff could comment during 2014. The PROGRESS Editorial columns and our “From The Editor’s Desk” features have framed various issues this year. These issues have included reactions to federal agency response to Cliven Bundy as well as other public lands issues. They have included commentary on the state’s energy policy and its impact on our local economy. We have weighed in on public education, Lake Mead management, local business development, downtown revitalization efforts, promotion of tourism, endorsements of political candidates, recognition of local organizations and individual residents for important civic accomplishments, and much more. These editorial opinion pieces have been published with the intent to spark a constructive local conversation on these important issues and events.

And we seem to have been successful there! The PROGRESS has received and published more than 80 letters to the editor this year. The majority of these letters were written by local residents; with a few coming from further afield written by readers who like to keep a connection to the community through reading the PROGRESS. We appreciate and value the time and effort taken by all of those who wrote in to share their views.

Those writers of letters who have appeared in print during 2014 include: Dr. Selmer Spitzer, Roxanne LaBeau, Gene Rasmussen, Jim Scanlon, Cami Lee, Annie C. Leavitt, Vicki Wendt, Alex Branson, Keith A. Grimes, Emily Pack, Wyatt Wright, Philip Long, Rovena Smithson, P. Jacobson, R. Hart, Lance Mortensen, Sally Wirth, Glen Hardy, Blake Monk, Grace Clark, Sam Kent, J L Craghead, Ralph Starita, Jim Cencer, Parry Taylor, Tryston Woods, Carlos Jessen, Bobbi Chandler, Howard & Ruth Cragun, Esther Ramos, Dennis & Paige Reese, Sue McMahill, Robert Kessler, Jared Bolton Family, Merle Albrechtsen, Judy Metz, Heidi Dini, Greg Schwob, Sharon Larsen, Mary Martini, Justine Crawford, Heather Hofmann, Randy Tobler, Bud Bonham, Judge Lanny Waite, Ned & Marilyn Artz, Brent Hauver, Becky Hardy, Mary Lane, Erika Whitmore, Hal Cook, Joseph Trento, Al Litman, Tammy Rollins, Sheldon Worley, Lorene Robison, Esti Hutchinson, Jack Morgan, Jerry Stueve, “Sneaky” Pete Hamilton, Kathy Hollinger and CheriLynne Taylor.

In addition, many people have posted hundreds of comments to our website at www.ruralbusinessjournal.com/mvprogress. Most of these have not been published in the hardcopy of the newspaper but they definitely add to the community forum experience. Those few who provided names with their comments include: Barry E. Haimo, Jeff Clevinger, Annie C. Leavitt, Steve Hinman, Michael Bahr, Derrick Lytle, Sue Saxon, Amy Hansen, Marilee Hanevold Hilgendorf, Linda Davis, Kathi Cooper, Gary Hosea, Bill & Julie Whitesell, Pat Leavitt, Lori & Richard Pedersen, Russ Newkirk, Casey Brown Meyers, Robert King, Paul Kersey, Vic Chiapetta, Vickie Bell, Sky Freeborn, Thomas Rice, Brad Billings, Robert Cobb, Sr., Delbert Rapini, Bert Smith, Morgan G., Barbara Leonard, Marla Hughes, Christina Jenkins, Jim Dignon, Amy Wrong, Dirk Sorensby, Bob Bishop, Bret Staley, Roger Nebergall, Donald Western, Pamela Jensen, Chuck Roth, Randy Janssen, Cristy Edwards, Tim Thurman, Lindsey Dalley, James Carson, Kathy Clark, Walt Hess, Jaylene Monjaras, Vicki Wendt, Gloria Arteaga, Terri Hunt, Sue Rusche, Ben Robison, Buckey Walters, Morris & Pat Christensen, Zeller Waymire, Rebecca H., Della Frank, Johnny Armstrong, Linda Young, Patty Rusk, Nancy Younghans, Gregory Schwob, Alice Thompson, Sarah Gonzalez, Esti Hutchinson, Chryl & John Jarrel, Colleen Adams Nelson, Val & Elva Smith, Scott Bushman, John Swapp, Wendy Mulcock, D. R. Patterson, Larry Barnum, Dawnn Stone, Tony Ricco, Peter Keresztes, Katie Howard, Jim Scanlon, B. Riches, Teresa Marren, Julie Smith and Leisa Davidson. Many more posted comments without a full name included.
We have also been pleased to publish more extended views in longer op-ed columns that are more detailed than a simple letter to the editor can be. Some of these have come from our readers. Others have come from experts in various fields. These have added depth to the PROGRESS Opinion page. We thank the following for their contribution in these articles: Esther Ramos, Monte & Laura Bledsoe, Cindy McMurray, Dennis Jarrel, Bruce Whitney, Jim Tuttle, Bill Hurd, Jon Oglesby, Sidney Bounds, Dustin Nelson.

Once again, we express great appreciation to Dr. Larry Moses who has faithfully continued to contribute his popular column “No One Asked Me But…” throughout another year in 2014. For nearly eight years now, Doc. Moses’ column, has served as an excellent sounding board for community discussion on a staggering range of important issues. We at the PROGRESS deeply appreciate the untiring work that Doc. Moses does in producing this weekly column, so widely read and pondered in the community. The PROGRESS just wouldn’t be the same without him!

Finally, our staff would take this opportunity to wish all of our readers a happy and prosperous New Year! We look forward to the issues of community importance that may arise in 2015; and we look forward to hearing from any and all of you, our loyal readership, with your unique and valued perspectives on local, state, national and global events.

Please don’t keep your opinions to yourselves! Keep them coming our way.
Once again thank you, Moapa Valley, for reading the PROGRESS!